Ladder Health has raised US$7m to expand its virtual paediatric therapy service and cut waiting times for children with developmental needs.
The Boston-based company said the oversubscribed seed round will support expansion across North Carolina, Massachusetts and Maryland, as well as entry into additional states.
It will also fund further investment in its AI-enabled care platform and partnerships with health systems.
Mitch Mudra, co-founder and chief executive of Ladder Health, said:
“Early developmental therapy changes life trajectories, but only if families can actually access it at the right time.
“Half of families in the U.S. rely on Medicaid, and the system simply wasn’t built to serve them well. We built Ladder Health for this moment, when the demand for care exceeds the system’s capacity and too many families are left without access to the care their children need.”
For more than 27m children in the US, the first 1,000 days of life and the next 1,000 days through age five form a critical period for brain development.
About one in four children under six is at risk of a developmental delay or disability, according to figures cited by the company.
Families can face months-long waiting lists, workforce shortages and limited access to specialist care.
Average waits for in-network developmental therapy now exceed six months, with greater barriers facing families on Medicaid and those in rural communities.
Ladder Health provides speech, occupational, physical and feeding therapy through a virtual-first, AI-enabled platform available during evenings and weekends.
Occupational therapy helps children develop the practical and physical skills they need for everyday activities.
The company said its service aims to cut waiting times from months to days.
Instead of relying solely on weekly appointments, its therapists work directly with caregivers, involving parents as partners in therapy and allowing care to continue at home between sessions.
Company liaisons also work with paediatric practices and health systems as referral and care-extension partners, helping providers reach more families without adding staff.
The platform was initially developed with clinical experts at Boston Children’s Hospital.
It now works with more than 80 provider organisations and health systems across Massachusetts, North Carolina and Maryland.
Ladder Health said the partnerships help paediatric practices improve continuity of care, reduce fragmented services and reach more families earlier in a child’s development.
John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital, said: “Delays in accessing developmental care can have lasting consequences for children and families.
“Ladder Health’s model represents an important evolution, leveraging technology to extend clinical expertise into the home, where so much of a child’s development actually happens.”
The seed round was led by Nina Capital, with participation from Mairs & Power Venture Capital, South Dakota First Capital and incubating partner 25madison Health.
Other investors included Hatteras Venture Partners, Create Health Ventures, Jumpstart Capital, White Oak Enterprises, Groove Capital and 7Rock Ventures.
Marta G. Zanchi, founder and managing partner at Nina Capital, said: “Health systems are desperate for solutions that expand paediatric capacity, but traditional models are too expensive and hard to scale.
“We led this round because Ladder Health has built a clinically rigorous model that solves the throughput crisis for providers while delivering immediate, life-changing care to the families who need it most.”
